The Beauty in Apartment 13B
by Lass Luna
Summary: It's not easy to find your happy ending. But there's nothing like having your best friend along for the ride. Captain Book, ultimate friendship.
1. A Dropped Book

Also not my sequel to Purple Fairy, but hopefully it'll be enjoyable anyway.

It's a little different than what I usually write, but I like this idea and needed to write it.

Updates are sporadic.

Basically a Captain Book, (Belle and Killian) College Roommate AU fic, FRIENDSHIP not romantic.

It will fluctuate between one shots and mini arcs.

* * *

A Dropped Book

 _Maybe Ruby was right,_ although Belle hates to admit it, her best friend did have a point when she said that Belle was packing her car with far too many books.

But what choice did she have? Her father was going to get rid of any book she left behind and the brunette couldn't bear to part with a single item in her precious collection.

So what if she couldn't resist browsing the used book store in town. There were always hidden treasures to be found.

It was what had her in her current predicament, balancing a heavy box of hard cover books as well as her duffel bag filled with clothes on her way up to her third floor apartment.

Ruby always complained to her about how she could have more books than clothes. To Belle, Books were more valuable. She didn't need three of everything like Ruby did after all. It wasn't like she was clubbing often.

(She only did that when her best friend dragged her out to get 'lit')

Every step she took made her feel just a bit off balance, books sliding back and forth in the box, the duffel's straps falling from her shoulder to her elbow making Belle make a sound in protest against the heavy weight.

She should have made two trips.

"Shoot." She 'curses'.

(Another thing Ruby teases her about)

Belle watches in dismay as one of the books, her childhood favorite if the blue cover is any indication, topple out of the box and back down the stairs. She groans, trying to decide how best to maneuver herself back down the stairs to retrieve the escaped reading material.

"What do we have here?" Says a voice. Belle peers down behind her and sees a figure in black pick up the book. "Her Handsome Hero?" He reads aloud before looking up at her. "Drop something love?" He asks.

Belle nods smiling shyly.

"Sorry." She says. "Everyone warns me about biting off more than I can chew when it comes to my books." He chuckles journeying up the stairs towards her, placing the book in her box.

"Aye, I can see that." He muses. Belle recognizes an accent in his voice. Irish she thinks. "Let me help you, which floor are you headed to?" He asks, gently grabbing the duffle bag that she's trying not to drop.

The guy is attractive in that bad boy way, dark leather jacket and a bit of a scruff with piercing blue eyes. But the man's smile seems genuinely harmless, as if he just wishes to help without an ulterior motive.

"Thank you." She replies with a smile back. "I'm on the third floor." She tells him. He nods.

"Me too. I guess we'll be floor mates." He says with a smirk. "That's a nice change of pace." Belle looks at him curiously.

"My last neighbor had a band, played music through the night. Generally speaking, reading is a quiet activity." Belle rolls her eyes at that. She hates noisy neighbors. It was why she could never room with her best friend Ruby Lucas.

"I don't know some people like to read books aloud." She replies. "I could be a wannabe audiobook."

The man chuckles. "As long as you don't spoil books, that's fine." He says. "I'm an avid reader myself, mostly text books as of recently though." H admits sheepishly.

"You're a student?" She asks. Most people in this apartment complex went to the local university, but Belle was never one that judged.

"Aye, majoring in Mechanical Engineering." He tells her proudly.

She nodded. "Sounds intense." She said softly. "I'm History and English double major" She replied. He nodded knowingly.

"I guess I know who to turn to for help with writing a paper?" He said amused.

She nodded, meeting his smirk with one of her own. "And when I need a calculator I know who to ask."

They slowly arrived at the third floor, chuckling. Belle sighed in relief.

"Well, Thanks for your help." She replies. "I can take it from here." She said gesturing to her bag on his shoulder.

"Nonsense, let me bring it to your door. It appears your door is in the same direction as mine." He assured her. "Perhaps you can recommend my next book to read after I finish getting through my studies." He prompted.

She smiled. He certainly came to the right person for that.

"Well, since you rescued my copy of Her Handsome Hero, I'd suggest that. It's a little old fashioned, typical story of a hero rescuing a heroine by being brave." She described. "But it's not just that, it's _so much more_ than the cliché." She emphasized. "The heroine, she's real, just a girl trying to do the right thing, for her people and her family, and her heart."

The man was smirking.

"What?" She snapped, blushing.

"You certainly love your books." He mused. "Very passionate." He insisted.

She looked away, tightening her grip on her box.

 _Got carried away again._ She chastised silently. Ruby was always telling her how over the top she tended to get when describing her favorite book. It wasn't her fault that these writers had a way of creating such beautiful words, creating worlds from ink and-

"Thinking about your books?" He asked.

She pulled her head up to look at him.

"Whatever." She snapped irritated at this strangers teasing.

"I mean no offense lass." He replied. "It's always good to see someone talk about something they love. My brother says that says a lot about a person's character."

She blinked, keeping his gaze, before the man blushed.

"Perhaps I'll borrow it." He inquired, obviously changing the subject. "The book I mean, if that's alright with you of course."

Belle hesitated. She liked lending her books to her friends, but this man, regardless of how helpful he was, was still a stranger. She didn't know if she'd ever got her book back again. She didn't know if he was a despicable page folder or if he would put his cup on the cover or-

He chuckled besides her at her hesitation. "Should have known a book worm like you would be protective of her treasured books." He teased.

"I am not a book worm." She replied only a bit insulted. How she felt so comfortable with this stranger's teasing she did not know.

She stopped in front of her door, itching to respond with a proper comeback.

"13." He read with an odd expression. "Do you live here all by your lonesome?" He asked. "Not to sound creepy." He added with a shy smirk.

"I have a roommate, it was supposed to be my friend, but she backed out last minute, her sister had an episode so she decided she needed time to go home to her." Belle explained. Her new roommate was someone she'd never met before, but Belle had faith it would be fine. It was mostly college kids like her that lived in this apartment building, so it shouldn't be too weird.

She knocked on the door. The land lady was supposed to be here to let her in and go over last minute details.

The door opened, revealing an older lady with bleach blonde hair and a sort of creepy smile, her eyes were clouded and unseeing, hand curled on her walking stick

"You must be Belle." She said with a grin and a breath, as if breathing in her air. It made Belle shiver. _Ruby wasn't kidding when she said the land lady here was creepy._ She replied.

"Yes mam." She replied. "I sent you the deposit and my rent already, all I need is the key." Belle asked. Serena nodded.

"And is that lovely man with you Killian Jones? Your roommate?" She asked, taking another breath. "Hmm…salt and leather." She said under her breath.

"No, he's-" Belle tried, but the man scratched behind his ear as he dropped both bags onto the ground.

"Aye, I am." He replied. Her jaw dropped.

"You mean-" He nodded.

"I guess we'll have lots of time to discuss books now." He mused. "Killian Jones, at your service."


	2. First Impressions

The first few chapters are set ups, but once I'm through with those, I'll take requests for situations t put them in.

* * *

First Impressions

Killian is nice; Belle figured that from their brief conversation on the walk up. But liking books doesn't exactly equal roommate material.

Once their land lady leaves, they do a quick inspection of the place, both have their own rooms, closet, but they share a bathroom, living room and kitchen.

But its fine, Killian looks nice; they can have a schedule, him in the mornings, her at night or vice versa if he was a night owl. He looks like a night owl, with his dark jeans and dark leather jacket.

The place look just like the website advertised, so at least that was good. _So what if she'd imagined her friend Anna living besides her, and so what she was living with a guy now. It would be alright._ She rationalized. It had to be, she already paid up to the end of the semester to ensure she got the place on time.

 _It's fine._

"Need any more help with your bags lass?" Killian asked, he shook her head quickly, taking her duffel from him.

"Any preferences for which room you wanted?" he tried again.

She looked between them. "They look the same to me." He explained, shifting nervously. She nodded curtly, taking the room closer to the kitchen rather than the bathroom, closing the door behind her without a word.

He hears him sigh loudly from the living room, and then she hears him pick up one of the sets of keys their land lady left them, and exit the apartment.

Belle knew that not speaking was rude, but he couldn't help it. It was just odd to be living with a stranger, but at least she thought the stranger was going to be a girl. Her last roommate was Ruby, an old high school friend. And things had been rough; Ruby was messy while Belle was neat, they argued a lot about each other's strange habits.

But they had each other's back at the very least, bonded over girl things like boys and tampons.

What was she going to do now? What if this guy was a player and slept with every girl in campus? Or a rock star and stayed up all night jamming music. What if he was a creep? Should she get a lock on her bedroom door?

Her phone suddenly went off, signaling 3 missed messages.

 ** _Ruby: How's the new roomie? Mine is a total princess :((((((_**

She quickly responded to her friend, needing her here asap. _Although_ , Belle realized, _as soon as Ruby sees him, the innuendos about 'hitting that' will be nonstop._

 ** _Roommate's complicated. Come over when you can, unpacking now._**

 ** _Mom: Did you arrive safety? Call me when you can honey! :)_**

She smiled, making a mental note to call her later. She'd probably finish up around 4, and knowing Ruby, she will insist on dragging her out to a bar around 8, giving her a nice window to tell her mom how things went. She wanted to tell her about Killian gently or risk a freak out.

 ** _Gaston: Does your place have cable?_**

Belle chuckled at that.

 ** _I didn't even bring a TV, barely fit all my books._** She replied.

Now breaking the news to him was going to be unpleasant. Belle shook her head, turning her phone screen off and sticking it in her pocket. She had to get moving to get everything set up.

But most importantly, Belle needed to get a feel for the type of house mate Killian was going to be.

So Belle does what she does best, read. She's watching the man, reading his actions rather than words on a page. Killian unloads his stuff into his room systematically. Duffel first, then TV, extra shelves and his own box of books, there's even a box of decorative things from what she can tell. A bottled ship peeks out the side.

She wonders if his 'passion' was in one of those boxes.

Belle notices him watching her too, but she's quick, books, clothes and computer is all she really needs for her room. It doesn't take long for her to unpack her dishes and brand new toaster. It gives her the time she needs to watch her new roommate.

"See something you like?" He teases as he wipes his hands, seemingly finishing with his bedroom too. He moves over with a box under his arm to unpack himself.

"Never had a male roommate before." She admits honesty. "I'm sorry if I was a little standoffish earlier, this whole thing caught me by surprise." He nods in understanding, scratching behind his ear.

"I assure you, us males operate very similarly to you females." He teases.

"You know what I mean." She quips back. "How is this going to work?" She asks.

He looks at her confused before smirking. "Afraid you can't resist my charms?" He asks.

"I have a boyfriend." She replies instantly. He raises his brow curiously before chuckles and turns. He leans back against the kitchen counter.

"You don't find this weird at all?"

"I moved around a lot as a child, shared a smaller space with a multitude of characters, so not particularly." He admits honestly. "Besides, we seemed to get along rather well before we learned we'd be sharing an address." He reminds her.

She shrugged.

 _True_

"Alright, let's set some things straight. I have no intention of making things awkward. I need this place to work out, and I assume you do too." He continues, crossing his arm seriously. "We won't sleep together, or any of that messy business." He says waving his hand at her. "No drunken kisses, no rebound after heart ache, none of it." He declares.

She nods in agreement.

"Just roommates." She insists. Anything more would make things messy if they ended badly after all. Plus she loves Gaston, her high school sweetheart. She knows he's not going to take her rooming with a guy all that well, he can get a little jealous on occasion.

 _"Insanely jealous."_ According to Ruby.

"Well I was going to say friends." He teases; she gives him a level look.

"Acquaintances." She replies.

"I can work with that." He replied.

There's suddenly a knock on the door. Her head shoots up, as she goes to get it. For a moment she thinks its Gaston. Logically, Belle knows Gaston said he'd come see her tomorrow, but she can't help hope he wanted to see her sooner.

"Ello love," Said a very accented and charming voice. Belle's jaw drops. "I believe I have the wrong apartment, I'm looking for Killian?"

She knows he's speaking but she can't quite understand his words. All Belle can really process is how tall he is and how-how well built he is. His eyes are blue and he's smiling with a head of curly brown hair that Belle really, really wants to touch-

"Lass?" He repeats and Belle swears her face is probably beat red.

"Oi, Liam!" she hears a voice call from behind her. Killian takes his place, opening the door wider for the taller man to step inside. "You didn't get lost. This is it." He exclaims happily.

"I don't _get lost,_ little brother." The man, Liam, teases.

All Belle can think about are the rigid muscles filling out his navy blue t-shirt and the way his voice just slips of his tongue with that foreign accent he shares with Killian and-

"Younger brother." Killian corrects. "Liam, this is my roommate Belle." He introduces. Liam extends his hand towards her.

It takes all of her will power to not make a fool of herself, extending her hand towards his and Liam bends down and kisses her hand, a light feather like kiss like some knight towards a princess. It makes Belle feel like she's in one of her books.

 _Do. Not. Swoon, Belle. Do not freaking swoon._

"Brother!" Killian groans in annoyance. "Really?"

She blinks, seeing Liam shooting Killian a teasing look.

"Serves you right for not telling me you were living with your secret girlfriend." He shot accusingly. "Nice to meet you lass, I can't believe why my git of a brother would hide you from me-"

Belle finally found her voice.

"He's _not_ hiding me." She insisted a tad too forcefully. "I mean-" She trailed off.

They both looked at her strangely.

"I mean…" She stammered, realizing how that sounded. "It's not like he isn't nice looking and charming-" Killian raised a brow. "We just met." She insisted. "I have a boyfriend."

This was not going well.

"Right." Liam said, breaking the tension. "Then I guess I'll help you set up your room little brother, then drive you to school to make sure you have everything set up for Monday.

Killian grinned. "Alright, this way."

The Jones Brothers disappeared into Killian's room, leaving Belle alone with her embarrassment.

 _This is going to be harder than she thought._

* * *

Guest: I didn't realize I needed it until I saw something on tumblr, sparking the idea. I wish I knew where I saw it to give credit...

andria: Glad I can surprise you still! Many more surprises in store.

 _Next Time: Killian's first impressions on rooming with Belle_


	3. Bloody Hell Liam!

Bloody hell Liam!

"So she's really not your lass?" Liam asked for the umpteenth time.

Killian groaned. He should have expected it, should have told Liam the second he found out that he was rooming with the charming bookworm, rather than a random guy he'd be paired up with.

"It was a mix up, but neither of us have time to find another place, plus we've already paid for the semester remember?" He insisted.

"Well she is certainly something." Liam teased, helping to hang some of his clothes. "Brunette, just like you like 'em." Liam encouraged, elbowing him in the side lightly. "Perhaps this is just fate's way of-

Killian sighed.

"Liam! Stop. I don't need any help." His brother was always going on and on about this. "I'm here to _study,_ to get my degree, not to sleep with every brunette on bloody campus!" How his brother had gotten it into his head that he preferred brunettes, he'll never know.

"She's spirited." Liam added. "But a bit clumsy, probably able to get you to loosen up a bit." He listed.

"She has a boyfriend." Killian snapped. "And we've already discussed this." He told Liam.

"Did you now?" He said mockingly.

"We're roommates, we can't be at each other's throat half way through the term because we've gone and made things more complicated than they need to be."

"Ah yes, typical little brother, terrified of making things more complicated than his calculator class-."

"Calculous!" he corrected. "A calculator does math, Calculous I a type of math dealing with derivatives and-" Liam waved him off like he always did when he started speaking about school.

"Please don't start with that again." He groaned, placing a hand to his chest in mock pain.

"Serves you right making Belle uncomfortable." Killian replied, trying to hook up the last of the cables in his TV.

"So you're on first name basis?" Liam asked.

"Bloody hell!" He groaned, "Will you stop trying to set me up with my roommate?" He asked, making Liam break into laughter.

"Sorry Kil, you're just so easy to mess with." He replied. "I'll stop." He promised.

Killian was about to protest, but Liam raised his hands in surrender.

"I'm only teasing." Liam said, swinging an arm around his shoulders. "But please don't spend every waking hour studying and working; have a little fun for me?"

Killian nodded. "I'll try." He replied. "When do you have to go back?" He asked, trying not to sound as desperate as he was. Liam's grin faded.

"In the morning." He admitted. "I'm just lucky that I'm friends with the Captain, otherwise, they wouldn't have given me leave at all." Liam reminds him. Killian nods.

"The Navy is where you belong Li." He replies. "You'll get time off before Christmas right?" He asked. Liam nodded.

"I'll try my best, little brother." He replied.

"Younger!"

Both brothers chuckled. "But let's not talk about saying goodbye just yet, we still have a few more boxes to get from your truck and then you need some groceries right?" Killian nodded.

Just then they heard a knock on the front door, Killian peered out just in time to hear Belle and a lass he didn't recognize with dark brown hair and red highlights squeal as they embraced each other.

What really got Killian's attention was the dark tights and low cut tank top shirt the lass was wearing. He was a gentleman, but even he had trouble tearing his eyes away from indecent places.

"The summer was soooo boring without you, Belle." She complained. "I've got so much to tell you!"

Belle was grinning brightly. "Ruby, we've spoken every day." She reminded her, stepping away. "And this time, I have something to tell you."

But Belle's friend, Ruby saw Killian and Liam lurking. She gave a wolfish smirk.

"Please tell me you're Belle's roomie's hot brother and not her boyfriend." She said with a wolfish smirk. Killian couldn't help but shift nervously at her forwardness. "The name's Ruby, I'm Belle's best friend." She introduced. "And I'm totally single."

Belle sighed. "Ruby, this isn't my roommate's brother, this _is_ my roommate." She said. Killian smirked.

"I'm Killian." He introduced. " _This_ is my brother Liam, the brother you're looking for."

Liam smiled, taking Ruby's hand and kissing it as he did Belle's earlier. However, she didn't blush, she just met his eyes with a challenge.

"God Belle, there's two of them, you've lucked out." She said. "Can we trade? Please?"

Belle rolled her eyes. "Come on Ruby, Aurora can't be that bad."

Ruby gave her a blank stare. "The girl doesn't _own_ a piece of denim. It's all pleated skirts and pink anime crap." She complained. "You know how much I hate pink." Belle sighed.

"Sorry Rubes." She commented, patting the other girl on the shoulder. "You're welcome here anytime." She tells her.

Liam nodded in agreement. "Yes, my brother here would love to share a dwelling with such a lovely lass such as yourself." He insisted. Killian knew that tone in his brother's voice, it was the tone he used to charm the pants off the bar waitresses when he's off duty. "My brother Killian here is a real gentleman."

 _Bloody hell._

Killian knew what that meant.

"Oh really?" Ruby asked. "Is he a regular Prince Charming?" She asked.

Liam smirked. "Hardly, a lass such as yourself needs something more exciting. Killian's more of a pirate captain, but an honorable one I assure you." Killian rolled his eyes. His hand ran through his hair with irritation. He wanted the ground to swallow him whole right about now. He absolutely hated it when Liam did this, convince a lass to give him a shot.

"Smart man." Ruby responded. "Glad you can see I'm _no_ Snow White."

"Brother, shouldn't we be going?" He insisted, shooting an apologetic look at Belle as he attempted to end this and drag his brother out, but the older man shook him off.

"Belle usually calls me Little Red riding hood, but I think I'm more the big bad wolf." She assures him, stepping back into Liam's space. "I'm a biter." She warns. "And my Ex used to say I nearly ate him alive."

Belle sighed, her hand covering her face which was red from her friends innuendos. "Oh my god Ruby. Stop." She insisted. "Peter did not say-"

Killian took the opportunity to firmly drag is brother out of there. Saying a quick 'See you later!' to Belle.

As soon as the door closed, Killian glared harshly at his elder brother

"What?" Liam asked innocently. "She's a brunette as well." He insisted with a glance and a waggle of the eyebrows.

"That was the most embarrassing thing ever." He complained. "Things are already tense enough with Belle, and now-"

Liam rolled his eyes. "That Ruby lass is a good looking one isn't she, quite the challenge if I'd ever seen one, could really help you loosen-

"Liam! What did I just say?" He complained.

"You said not to try and set you up with your roommate, you never said anything about her friend."

"Bloody Hell Liam!"

* * *

 **For those Captain Swan fans out there, I want to assure you, Captain Swan is endgame for this, but Emma won't be appearing for a good while, I want to develop Killian and Belle's friendship and other relationships before I bring in Emma. I don't want Captain Swan to be the focus of this, but when it happens, it will definitly be a big arc.**

 **For Rumbelle... I'm not a big fan of their ship as of now, but I'm not going to immediately vilify him either so we'll see how successful that is when he makes an appearance, also much later on, for the same reasons as Emma, I want to develop Belle independent from her relationship first. Rumbelle with have a few complicated arcs because their relationship seems nothing BUT complicated.**

 **Just as a warning, for those of you who HATE seeing Belle or Killian with anyone but Gold and Emma respectively, there may be references to other relationships. Especially Belle.**

 **Thank you all so much for the wonderful reviews and support for this little experiment.**

 **~Luna**


	4. Flowers and Baloney

Flowers and Baloney

"Your brother seems interesting." Belle started. He had barely realized she had spoken at first, Belle looked completely entranced by that book in her hands as she sat on the couch.

Killian was currently sitting at the living room table, trying to get a bit of work done before class as it started tomorrow. He'd been absolutely dreading this conversation.

"Liam means well." He said shyly, feeling his face flush, rubbing the back of his neck. "He isn't really _that_ much of a flirt; he does it just to embarrass me." Killian said quickly. "I hope your friend wasn't uncomfortable."

He hears Belle snicker under her breath. "Are you _kidding_ , Ruby l _oves_ the attention. I swear she thrives off it. She couldn't stop talking about my 'hot roommate' and his brother all day long." Belle explained. "I finally kicked her out of here when she started talking about-"

Now it was Belle who was blushing. Killian didn't need to think very hard to figure out what type of innuendoes Ruby had been making to make Belle flush. "How did you meet her, you two don't seem very much alike." He said carefully.

"High school. We got paired up together freshman year for a project, inseparable since." She explained. "It was Ruby, Anna and I actually." She said. Killian detected a hint of nostalgia in her voice. "Anna was who I actually was supposed to room with." She explained.

Killian raised a brow, curious as to what had happened, he was glad he got the room of course, but curious as to what put Belle in this situation.

"May I ask what happened?" He said.

"Her older sister had a nervous breakdown; Anna decided to go to college closer to her to take some of the stress off Elsa's shoulders." He nodded in understanding.

"Bond of siblings is strong." He agreed. "I'd do that in a heartbeat for Liam."

The conversation died briefly, only the sound of his scribbling, and the turning of the pages in Belle's book could be heard.

"Was it hard?" She asked suddenly. "Being separated from your brother for so long?" He blinked in confusion. Belle turned around in her seat to face him. "Navy right? Or the marines?"

"Navy." He assured her. "How did you know?"

Belle shrugged. "I'm a reader, I read people. He's well built, tanner, much tanner than you, you look at him like you haven't seen him in forever, and don't want to let him go, and he mentioned you being a pirate, I figured it meant he likes water." She explained.

That sounded impressive.

"Plus Liam mentioned it to me when you got home from the grocery store. Assured me that he'd be out of our hair soon because he had to go back to base." She teased.

He chuckled.

"People always assume that because I read a lot, I'm some kind of Sherlock Holmes." She explains. "So is it hard?"

Killian is tempted to lie but doesn't.

"Very." He says in a quiet voice. "But he didn't have enough money to go to school and he wanted to make something of himself. I'm very proud of him." He admits. "Even when he embarrasses me by flirting with my roommate."

Belle grins. "I couldn't imagine doing that, it would _kill_ my mother, you'll meet her eventually, she comes down here a lot to visit." She explains.

Killian only nods.

"How often do your parents visit? I'm trying to convince my mom that twice a month is a little excessive." She says with a smile.

"They don't." He says in a too tight voice. Belle's grin falls, but she seems to know enough not to question him. "But Liam comes whenever he can; he thinks he can make it for Thanksgiving, but not Christmas." He says sadly, changing the subject. "So we usually do both at once"

Belle chuckles. "Sounds like fun."

The conversation drops again and Killian looks around for an idea as to how to start it up again, he finds talking to Belle is so effortless, just as it had been when they first met.

"What do you do for the holidays?" He asks. Her smile returns.

"My father usually fills the house with flowers for my mother, 12 bouquets of Christmas they call it. And then we do the traditional stuff, Christmas Tree, Eggnog, presents, party the whole thing. Most of the town comes over." She explains.

It sounds nice, but he's too distracted by the amount of flowers Belle's father keeps in their home.

"12?!"

"My father runs _a flower shop_." She explains; there's bitterness in her voice he can't quite place. "He actually didn't want me to go to college."

There it is.

"He wanted me to stay and learn how to run the place, grow the flowers; cut them, everything." She says with a sigh.

"I can see why you'd be opposed to the idea. I worked in a flower shop in high school." He says. "I think I know more about arranging flowers than I should." He admits. Killian doesn't admit it often, but that had been one of his favorite odd jobs he'd taken around that time.

"I hate flowers." She says suddenly and passionately.

He raises a brow at her. "Seriously Belle? You _cannot_ hate flowers, why I understand not wanting to give up higher learning for a flower shop you can't just-"

"I can and I do. Flowers give me allergies." She explains. "I don't mind them being around, but I hate being given them, all they do is sit there and _die_." She said dramatically.

"Well it's not exactly the flowers but the pollen in the air that reacts-" She glares at him.

"Flowers." She says stubbornly. He can't help but chuckle at the look of her. "It's not funny." She snapped.

"It is a little. You act like you are personally insulted by flowers." He observed. "Like they are out to get you!"

She huffed and turned back around, arms crossed. "Come on, everyone has things they can't stand." She reminds him defensively.

He nods, she has a point there. He looks back at her, seeing Belle look at him expectantly through the corner of her eye.

"Come on Killian, you already know about my hatred of flowers, it's only fair." She presses, back to facing him, book abandoned (not completely, when Belle had placed her book mark in the book and placed it on the table he'll never know.).

He can't help but lean back, and fold his arms behind his head.

"I don't now lass, I only confide my inner most feeling to my _friends_ , not just any ol' _acquaintance_." He teases, parroting her word from earlier back to him.

Belle turns, folding her arms over the back of the couch, leveling a glare at him. Killian thinks Belle could be quite fierce when she wants to be. He's helpless to cave under her gaze.

"Fine fine." He surrenders. "Baloney." He utters bitterly. "I bloody hate the stuff."

He waits a moment, only one before Belle rolls back into the couch laughing hysterically.

"It's not funny!" He retorts. "What even _is_ baloney? It's disgusting."

Belle is still laughing. He rolls his eyes. "Go ahead and laugh, I'm used to it." He responded.

"There must be a story behind it." She concluded. "And it sounds like a story I'd kill to hear." She admits.

"Aye, you're right, but it's a story I cannot be sober to share." He assures her. He glances towards the kitchen, rising and moving towards it.

"Woah, not in the mood to drink right now." Belle says quickly, looking as if he'd groan a second head.

"Neither am I." He replies. "I was just going to make a cup of tea, would you like a cup?" He asks. She nods thankfully.

"So I'm guessing you're not a coffee drinker?" She asks. He shrugs.

"Not really." He occasionally buys a cup on the bad days at Starbucks, but he prefers tea when in the comfort of his own home.

"Thank god, Ruby always used to leave her coffee grinds _everywhere."_ She insisted. "You have no idea how annoying it was to clean up every single morning." He snickered in agreement.

"My ex-Roommate's girlfriend used to do the same thing." He assured her. "I'm pretty sure she thought they got magically cleaned up before she got back from work every day."

It takes a few minutes before he drops the tea bags into their respective cups, and brings it over to Belle. She takes it happily into her grip, smiling brightly.

"You know Killian, I was skeptical about rooming with you at first, but I think we're going to get along just fine."

* * *

 **I'm glad last chapter was well received.**

 **The setting up is officially done. From here on in there may be a mix of mini arcs, and random one shots of situations I'm putting Belle and Killian in. I'm always welcome to new situations, so leave them in a review if you think of one!**

 **Don't forget to review!**

 **~Luna**


	5. Better with Cheese

Better with Cheese

It would be easy to get into the class she said, it was a sure thing she said, everything would be alright she said.

But here Belle was, Monday morning, staring at her schedule seeing the big fat 'Waitlist' for her Medieval Literature class staring her in the face. She was number 13 on the list, and she had until Friday to be enrolled in it or sign up for another class.

She didn't think there would be so many people wanting to take this class.

 _You are in Boston._ Belle reminded herself. She really should have signed up for it way earlier than she did.

Belle didn't want another class. The class she had _chosen_ was the _perfect class_ for her schedule, right in between her Latin language and her pre-calculous class. All the other classes on her list didn't fit quite right and she'd have to reorganize her _entire_ schedule to get it to work.

Worse, if she didn't take Medieval Literature, how was she going to take Renaissance Literature or Study of Religion without the proper backbone of the topic? It would be _ridiculous_.

That was how Killian found her that next morning; she'd gotten up at dawn to check her status, finding she had not moved a single spot through the night, and that got her nervous and when Belle got nervous, she paced. A lot.

"Bloody Hell lass, it's 7 bloody thirty in the morning." He groaned, stumbling out of his room in sweats and a faded band T-shirt. Belle was currently in one of her skirts with a blouse, she had to look good after all if she was going to talk her way into her class. He moved to the kitchen, starting some water boiling. "Why are you pacing like that lass?" He asked.

She hesitated. He didn't want to hear about her problems, it drove Ruby insane when she kept venting about her classes. Ruby wasn't too invested in school after all; she was more focused on the boys in her class than the actual learning.

"Come on lass, spit it out." He pressed with a smirk. "Perhaps I can help?" He offered.

"I'm on a wait list and its stressing me out." She admitted. "I know it's silly but-" She started, playing with the hem of her skirt. He would probably tell her not to worry, that everything will be fine, that's what Gaston always tells her after all, that she should stop worrying over every little thing.

"Silly? It's your education Belle. You need to get this sorted out asap." He insisted. "When does guidance open do you know? The engineering one opens at 9." He explained.

"Communications, the college that covers English, opens at 9 too." She explained.

"Alright, then, how about I make us some breakfast so you can calm down and stop your pacing in those noisy shoes." He said gesturing at her flats.

"Noisy?" She repeated with her eyes narrowed. He grins teasingly.

"Aye love, I can hear you walk from my bedroom." He reminded her, moving to the kitchen. "Clip clip clip." He says, as she follows, to the beat of her gait. Belle rolls her eyes stomps her foot lightly (earning a 'Clop' from Killian), crossing her arms. "How do you like your eggs?" He asked.

"Killian, you really don't need to cook me breakfast, I can-" She tries. Belle is a big girl and is long past the age of needing someone else to cook for her, but her roommate shakes his head.

"Tell me love, how long have you been awake?"

"Since 7." She replies. "What does that have to do with my cooking abilities?" She asks accusingly.

(Maybe she is hungry)

He raises his hand in mock defense.

"I only mean that obviously you have not bothered to eat, rather you are pacing in the hallway wearing a hole in the tile." He points out.

"I'm worried." She defends. "Plus I hate cooking a lot in the morning, I'll just grab a piece of toast or a pop-" His glare silences her.

"A poptart is _not_ food." He assures her. "I'm making eggs for both of us." He emphasized. "I always make too much anyway."

She tried to argue when he smirked.

"It's eggs or boiled mackerel, your choice." He replied.

Belle drops into the chair with a defeated sigh.

"But I'm doing the dishes." She assures him.

"Deal."

It turns out that when Killian Jones cooks, he does _not_ mess around. The joking nonchalant attitude vanishes. He's scowling in concentration at the eggs he's cooking. Belle could already tell he was a perfectionist by how neat his room looked-she had sneaked an innocent peak yesterday—and that attitude obviously spread to his every action, especially cooking.

"Do you like cheese in your eggs?" He asks.

"Anyone who does not like cheese in their eggs should not be trusted." She said firmly.

He smirks, grabbing a handful of shredded cheese and sprinkles it evenly throughout the pan.

(Belle just drops it in and tries to stir it well enough)

Within a few more minutes, they both have plates with cheesy fluffy, _delicious_ eggs piled high. Killian wasn't kidding when he said he always made too much.

"Oh my god." She sighs. "I think these are the best eggs ever." She admits. "Just don't tell Ruby."

"Ruby?" He asks.

"Her Granny, runs a dinner. Has the _second_ best eggs ever." She explains.

He grins proudly.

"Feel better now?" He asks, taking a scoop from his own plate.

"A bit." She replies, but the truth was that the overwhelming panic he was feeling earlier had nearly faded completely. She'd drive to campus after breakfast; calmly speak to her councilor and even the professor of the class if she had to.

"And you have a plan?" He asks. Belle nods.

"Good." He replies. "I have to go get ready for class, will you be alright?"

She nods firmly. "Thank you for breakfast Killian." She says softly.

"Of course, we're roommates we have to take care of each other after all." He says with a wink.

Belle rolls her eyes as he disappears into his own room, and then into the bathroom. She heard the water turn on for a shower.

She smiles warmly in that direction, appreciating Killian's kindness. It was odd, she'd done that plenty of times for Ruby last year, made her breakfast when she came home hung over, but it was nice for someone to do that for her.

It was odd that he even realized that she wanted that, she hadn't even realized it herself.

Belle looks down at her phone, it was nearly 8. She had about half an hour before she should leave to head to guidance. Just enough time to finish the dishes. She turned on the water, fiddling with the nob so the water wouldn't be too hot, but warm enough to help clean off the eggs.

Suddenly her phone buzzed loudly in her purse. She went over to check on it.

 _Gaston calling…_

Belle couldn't help but smile when she picked it up.

"Hey Gaston!" She said happily. "Good morning, how was your trip home?" She asked.

There was static on the line.

" _Belle, where are you?"_ A voice said, a voice Belle recognized as Gaston. _"You said you'd drive us to class."_ He reminded her.

Belle blinked. She didn't remember saying that _at all._

"When did I say that?" She asked.

" _Last week, remember?"_ He said sounding annoyed. _"I have a class in a half hour, so where are you?"_ Her grin fell. " _Don't tell me you forgot_ again." He said. Belle can just imagine the look on his face, the same look he always got when he was stressed. Nothing stressed Gaston out more than when Belle forgot something.

 _"Always had her head in the clouds, my Belle"_ According to her father.

She turned off the water, looking down at the dirty dish, grimacing at the thought of leaving it here. She felt terrible, Killian had gone out of his way to cook for her and she really wanted to clean up for him, she didn't want to make Killian think that she was a scatter brain and had forgotten.

" _Belle you know how important this class is to me. I need to make a good impression."_ Gaston said in exasperation.

"Sorry. I'm on my way." She said quickly, hanging up her phone. She leaned forward, covering her face with her hands as she re-evaluated her time. It took twenty minutes to get to where Gaston was staying, and then the drive was fifteen minutes to the buildings with all the labs, Gaston was a Biomed major so all his classes were super important.

If she left now, since it was 8:15, that would mean she'd be leaving the area at around 9, unfortunately, it was a forty minute drive from there, to the administrative building, and she had a class at 10:30, it would be cutting it pretty close, so she'd most likely have to go after class, near 12, by then it would be packed.

Killian stepped out, dressed with wet hair plastered to his face. He was checking his phone briefly before looked up at her.

"Everything alright lass?" He asked.

She nodded. "Just trying to manage my time." She admitted. "I have to go"

He smiled. "Good luck lass."

* * *

 **Note: I am not an English major, therefore I have no idea what classes are prereq for what. Totally made up.** **I wrote/planned this when I was stressed about my own wait list class.**

 **I'm kinda nervous about this chapter, not my favorite, but necessary.**

 **Thank you for your reviews, I really appreciate all the support!**

 **~Luna**


	6. A Hell of a Day

A Hell of a Day

Gaston Hunter was _that_ guy in high school. He was the coolest, the hottest and one of the smartest kids in their grade. He was perfect.

He could have any girl he wanted, but somehow, he chose her.

Belle is still mesmerized that it happened; it always felt like a fairytale. He just approached her one average morning.

(Belle had barely slept the night before, her hair was greasy, she was wearing average clothes, nothing too flashy because she'd been studying all night and all morning for her math test. To talk to her high school crush was literally the last thing she thought would happen that day.)

He asked her out just like that. It caught her completely by surprise.

 _"You're beautiful sweetie, inside and out. It's no surprise he saw that."_ Her mother had said when Belle came home that day with a smile on her face. Her father warmed up to the idea of his princess dating pretty quickly.

It helped that Gaston knew exactly what to say to impress her father when they met, promising to have Belle home by curfew, buying her flowers from her father, talking recipes with her mother.

He was perfect. And she loved him for it.

They went to college together, but both decided that living together was a little too soon and they were too young.

But they made it a point to see each other as much as possible, between classes and the weekends when they didn't have a big test to study for. They'd even camped out together in the library with Ruby and Victor.

Everything was going perfectly.

The real problem came when Gaston had to stay for summer classes. Apparently it was mandatory for his program, so their plans of relaxing for the summer, spending time together were blown sky high.

He'd spend the summer at University in Boston and she'd have to go home to Storybrooke, Maine.

That summer, Belle learned two things.

1\. Nothing exciting happened in Storybrooke.

2\. Long distance relationships sucked.

They were literal hell.

They was filled with delayed messages, badly lit Skype calls and a series of pints of Ben and Jerry ice cream binges when Belle was reading _Her Handsome Hero_ to calm herself down from her loneliness.

She didn't even have Ruby to help comfort her since she'd gotten an internship in Boston too.

But all that was over now. He was back from visiting his family, and she was back in her new apartment, even Ruby was back, everything could go back to how it was last semester.

Despite the time, Belle smiled when she pulled up in front of his building that morning, able to shave off a few minutes by taking a short cut. She spotted Gaston almost immediately and he climbed inside the passenger seat with a big grin on his face. "Hey babe." He greeted.

"Hi." She replied, feeling warmth climbing to her cheeks as he leaned over and kissed her quickly. It was just a brush, but it made Belle feel warm. "I missed you." She said softly.

"Same." He replied.

The moment was perfect.

Until she heard someone enter the backseat. It made her jump back and turn towards the intruder.

The intruder had her arms crossed in irritation, brown hair curled into beautiful waves and just rolled her eyes at Belle. "Gross." She sneered, referring to their kiss. "Can we get going?" She asked Gaston, barely even glancing at Belle.

Gaston pulled away, gesturing to the brunette behind them. "Oh, Belle, this is my neighbor Sophia." He introduced. "We're going to the same class, so I offered to give her a lift." The girl gave her a bored look.

He offered her a lift meant he offered Belle to give her a lift without asking her first.

But it was fine. Sophia being there wouldn't change the times.

 _She could get to her class at 10:30, and then guidance at noon and get her class._

 _"Gaston_ , I thought you said we were going to stop and get coffee first?" Sophia complained in a drawn out voice. It just irritated Belle, making her clench her fists slightly on the wheel.

"I thought you were late to class?" Belle asked sharply, eyeing _Sophia_ through the mirror. Sophia glared right back. Gaston just shrugged and grinned widely.

"It's _fine_ , there's a Starbucks on the way." He insisted, hand on her knee. She smiled. _That was true_ , Belle realized.

 _Plus she can get her venti Chai Tea Latte, she loved those things…_

"Sure." She said softly, nodding. "It's Monday morning, first day of class, how many people could possibly be there?" She wondered aloud.

Answer: Far too many.

Conclusion: Belle was _never_ going to Starbucks again. She didn't even get her latte because she didn't want to waste any more time.

Especially with Sophia's insistence that her drink be a tall low fat latte with 2 percent foam and a caramel drizzle, but it was fine, they could get going now and Belle would make it to class with just enough time and-

"Is this low fat?" _Sophia_ asked. "I said skim milk."

Belle distinctly heard her say low fat.

"We're running late are you sure-" Belle tried.

" _Gaston,_ you _know_ what I'm like without my _skim milk_ latte with _2% foam_ and my caramel drizzle." She complained. Gaston nodded in agreement.

"She can't concentrate." Gaston confirmed. "Come on Belle, what's a few more minutes?"

Analysis: Belle hated Sophia. She hated her with a burning passion.

When they _finally_ got to the science building where Gaston had his class it was cutting it close. She only got a quick kiss from Gaston as he said goodbye, and that they would see each other later. Belle sat there for a minute, watching him catch up with _Sophia,_ she saw them laughing about something, she wasn't sure what.

Belle was too distracted by the girls cut up jeans and way too low tank top and the way she said _Gaston's_ name.

It irked her that she didn't know what they were laughing about and that her hair looked way better than Belle's and that she could pull off that type of outfit that would make Belle blush if she even considered it. She sat there only until the car behind her honked at her, spurring her into getting to her campus.

Belle got to her 10:30 class at 11.

Her professor was not pleased. She gave Belle a glare that sent her scurrying to an open desk, her face was beet red when she got to her desk.

She was embarrassed and worst of all _lost_ all class long. She didn't know what book they were reading, or what they were talking about. Belle never felt so miserable in a literature class before.

She got to guidance by 12. She got in to see someone by 1:30.

She was told pointblank that if she'd arrived there earlier, she could have gotten an override slip, because now the classroom had filled up to room capacity; so unless someone dropped it, which wasn't likely, she wouldn't get to Medieval Literature.

She was now number _one_ on the wait list.

* * *

 **No Killian in this chapter, but we got to meet Gaston instead. He's such the perfect guy am I right?**

 **I'm glad everyone loved Killian cooking for Belle. The poor girl is super stressed right now.**

 **Killian will return next chapter.**

 **Don't forget to review!**

 **~Luna**


	7. What's a Comma?

What's a comma?

"Why do professors insist on assigning homework the bloody first day of class?" He groaned, staring at his blank screen. "And it _had_ to be my English class."

Belle shrugged, working on her own computer across from him at the table. Her books scattered around her. She wasn't in a good mood.

"I'd rather English than this public speaking class I have to take." She muttered dryly. " _Why_ couldn't I have gotten into my Medieval Literature class." She complained.

"I still don't understand what happened, you were set to get there way before the office opened and others got override forms and you didn't?" He asked. She averted her gaze, not replying. He gave her a sad smile. "It'll be fine lass, maybe it'll be good for you?" He tried.

"And maybe you should get back to writing your paper." She replied back a bit harshly.

He nodded, getting a sense to Belle as to when she wanted to be left alone. It would be a learning process figuring out the curious brunette. He turned back to his blank word document.

His teacher had wanted to get to know her students, she wanted them to write a page about a topic that _fascinated_ them and then relate it to a book they've read.

Killian was drawing a complete blank and it was due before class on Wednesday.

He'd usually put it off, but he had plans tomorrow, his first day and a part time job so he couldn't afford to put this off, he wanted to start things off on the right foot, not scrambling to catch up for a first bad grade.

But he literally couldn't think of anything to say, anything that _fascinated_ him or a single book he's read.

"Alright Killian, spit it out." Belle droned. "I can hear you're writers block from here." She was looking up from her screen.

"I don't want to bother you lass." He started.

"You made me breakfast _and_ did the dishes." She reminded him "I can at least help you get started on a paper. Mind you, I will not ever write you a paper, I don't care if you've been poisoned by a magic plant." She proclaimed.

"Of course. Cheaters never win." He agreed. "I have to write a paper about something I find fascinating and relate it to a novel I've read." He explained. "And I can't think of a single bloody idea."

Belle rolled her eyes. "What are you studying?" She droned, as if it was obvious.

"Mechanical engineering." He replied. "But I'm thinking of picking up a minor in electrical while I'm at it." He says, recalling his conversation with Liam just the other morning about how the ship he was on was wired incorrectly.

"What are you going to do with it?" She pressed. "Any end goals?" He scratched the back of his head nervously.

"Well, I was hoping to belong to a firm that designed and built ships, all kids of ships, sailboats, yatches, even the army vessel my brother commands-" He blinked looking at her. "You think I should write about that?" He asked.

"There must be a dozen different books you've read about ships." She reminds him in a sing song voice, the lass was smirking.

"How the devil did you do that?" He asked.

"A little bit of brainstorming always helps get the juices flowing, besides it was obvious by the look of your room, what, did I see _two_ bottled ships in there?" She teases.

"Perhaps." He muttered quietly, starting his paper. He couldn't pick between the _Jewel_ and the _Jolly_ , what was he supposed to do?

The moment the first words hit, he was on a roll. He chose Moby Dick as his novel to relate, describing the ship and how it could have been fixed to catch such a beast, as well as the Titanic and the _obvious_ flaws it had had with its structure according to a book he once read about the topic.

Before long, he had a 3-page paper sitting happily in front of him. He grinned triumphantly at it.

"Need a proof reader?" Belle asked.

"It should be fine, don't you have your own work to do?" He asked.

"I'm procrastinating." She replied. "Give it here, I'm curious." She admitted. He turned his laptop to face her, getting up to get himself a sandwich for dinner.

"Killian." Belle said suddenly, in a voice laced with a fair bit of terror. "What is this?"

He blinked. "Is it that bad? I'm not much of a writer, and its filled with some technical jargon but-" She cut him off with a fierce glare.

"You didn't use a single comma." She said as if he'd actually shot her. "Not a single one." He swallowed.

"I'm not much of a grammar person." He admitted sheepishly.

"And I'm not much of a math person and I still tip 15% to waiters." She replied dryly.

"I didn't see the use." He tried again.

It worked even less than his first excuse. He could hear her typing, reworking and practically tearing his writing apart. "Commas are used to break off trains of thoughts, allow pauses and do at least _a dozen other things!"_ She insisted. "How have you even gotten this far without-"

She dropped her head into her hand.

"Killian." She droned.

He stayed by the counter, honestly afraid Belle would murder him.

"Well. You said 'Well' instead of 'We'll'. Apostrophes are a thing." She reminded him.

 _An annoying thing._

"Sorry lass, won't happen again." He promised.

"I doubt it."

"Belle is there something wrong?" He counters, her snapping up to look at him. "You seem unusually tense." He explained. "Is this about not getting off the waitlist?" He asked.

"No. It's about the fact that you can't use an apostrophe. They exist you know." She nearly growled. "You've known me for days, so don't think you-"

He raised his hands.

"My apologies." He said quickly. "I didn't mean to overstep."

Belle put her head down.

"Sorry. I'm just stressed. I really want to take my class. And it was some stupid thing I didn't do that stopped me." She admitted.

"No, you did everything you could." He reminded her, but little did he know, it was only the beginning of Belle's rant.

"I could have done more if that-that-stupid jerk!" She exclaimed in outrage.

He raised his eyebrows in surprise.

"I hate how she says Gaston's name and her insistence that she get a skim milk latte, what's the point of that. She touches him and her hair is so pretty and ugggg!" Belle groaned her head landing on his computer keyboard.

"Lass." Killian tried, nervous as to how to approach the obviously stung out girl. "You shouldn't be so stressed so soon into the year." He reminded her. "It's the bloody first day."

She glared at him, head still on the computer.

"What I mean is, do you have an assignment due?" He asked.

"No."

"Then go relax, take a bath or call Ruby and go out, do something because it's too early to be so stressed." He advised.

"Maybe you're right."

"Lass, I'm most certainly am right." He said. "Now go. Get ready and go out, make up with this Gassy bloke, or take a nice shower and read a book, whatever will make you happy."

"It's Gaston." She corrected, getting up. "Thanks."

"No problem, thank you for helping with my essay, I appreciate it."

Belle smirked.

Killian barely noticed Belle as she had taken his advised, bathed and disappeared into her room in pajamas, probably to read one of her-

He suddenly got an email.

 _13 most useful comma rules._

Killian smirked in the direction of her door. Then a thought occurred to him.

"How the bloody hell did you get my email?!"

* * *

Merry Christmas and Happy New Year.

This will probably be my last post of the year! I hope everyone is doing well.

Thank you for the great reviews, I love the support this is getting. It seems most are in agreement over Sophia and Gaston. I wonder what could possibly be in store for Belle.

By the way, I'm participating in CS January Joy on tumblr, so keep a look out for a random one-shot sometime in January.

Next chapter will be a bit more into Killian's life, since I know I've been a little Belle heavy.

Don't forget to review, I take prompts.

~Luna


	8. French Fries and Caesar Salad

The French Fries and the Caesar Salad

Killian knew one thing the moment he clocked in for his first shift.

Someone had spilled the beans.

Killian was hoping to get this first shift with his new job done without drama or interference from his pair of friends. They were kind and had good intentions, but they tended to get into sticky situations easily.

Like the time they accidentally spent the night in a mall because Mar just had to be the first one to get in line for a _huge_ clothing sale. Or the time they accidentally ordered him a 10 foot boat when they meant to order him a bottled ship.

Needless to say, his friends were definitely interesting.

He wasn't going to keep it a secret for long, just until he got the hang of things, until he got into his boss's good graces. By then, whatever situation they manage to cause, hopefully he'll be well liked enough not to be fired immediately.

At least that was the hope.

But apparently that was impossible; someone had ruined Killian's plans.

Someone had told his best mates about his new gig as a waiter at _Brave and True_ , the new bar that opened around the corner. He knew someone _had_ to have told them because the moment his shift started, he spotted the two planted at the bar, grinning like a pair of idiots right at him.

His money is on Liam.

(But in Liam's defense, he knew how hard it was to keep something from _her._ She was like a bloodhound when it came to secrets.)

He sighed as he greeted them. "What did you threaten my brother with this time?" He asked with a sigh.

She smirked. "Now why would you ask me something silly like that?" She asked. "Your brother was more than willing to help out." They both knew that she had in fact threatened his Navy brother enough to make him cave, with what, Killian didn't have the slightest clue.

He sighed again. "What can I get you?" He asked, glancing up to see his boss watching him like a hawk. He was trying to appear casual and that he didn't know these two. He'd just wanted to do his job.

Killian's friend smirked. "What, no 'on the house'?" He teased. "We're your best mates, I thought we'd be entitled to some special treatment." Killian rolled his house.

"Robin." The second replied, making Robin groan as she most likely kicked him under the table. "We just want to wish you luck." She said sweetly. "And to try the food, our last place gave me heartburn." She recalled with a frown.

Robin was his roommate the previous year, it had been a slow start, but Robin and Killian had become good friends after a bit, sharing a love of good alcohol and football, the true sport, not the American version. Marian was a whole other story.

Marian is Robin's longtime girlfriend. The first time meeting her, she'd taken one look at him and declared him a friend, making him meals whenever she cooked for Robin, asking about his sleeping and health. She'd even bought him medicine when he was sick. And that was before he'd become Robin's friend.

It was a little awkward at first, Killian not used to that kind of affection from someone who wasn't his brother, but he adjusted. He realized that Marian had a tendency of mother henning her friends. (And Robin)

"We'll start with the cheese fries." Robin said, pointing to one of the favorites and breaking Killian out of his thoughts. "Mar will have a Coke, and I'll have a sprite."

"Robin." Marian chastised.

"Ugg. Marian will have a diet coke; she's on a health kick." He groaned.

"Should I cancel the fries?" He asked, looking at the brunette.

"If you want to lose your hand." She said sweetly.

"Fries it is." He said, leaving them to their bickering, heading to the table besides there's. A young lady their age had sat down.

"Good evening." He greeted. "Welcome to Brave and True, what can I get you to start?"

The girl gazed up at him and then back at her phone, back at the menu and then back at him.

"Do you have anything decaf that doesn't smell like grass?" She asked.

He thought back to the menu. "We have smoothies, and some non-caffeinated sodas as well as a variety of juices." He listed. "Would you like me to list them?"

She nodded.

He listed them just as they'd been told to him. She scrunched her nose at him in annoyance.

"That's it?"

He'd listed at least 10 flavors.

"Aye." He replied.

She sighed in annoyance. "Water with absolutely no lemon." She said crisply. He nodded and went to serve other waiting tables; none were as odd as the lass. Most of them just ordered their drinks and perhaps an appetizer or two, and carried on with their night.

There was one couple with a small child, but Killian won him over with a doggie impression, making the parents laugh.

By the time he'd finished making his rounds, Robin and Marian's fries were ready ad he promptly brought them out. Robin nodded in appreciation, unable to mask his surprise with how good they were. He looked up, noticing Ms. Decaf's companion had yet to arrive, he watched as she just kept looking at her phone with irritation.

He sighed softly.

"What?" Marian asked, because of course she picked up on that. She always does.

"Nothing Mar." He tried. She raised a brow in question, the trademarked, 'you are not getting away with that' look. "I'll be back later." He said, strolling over to the table.

"Can I start you off with something?" He asked.

"I'm pretty right?" She asked. He blinked in surprise, but she just rolled her eyes. "Never mind doesn't matter what you think." She snapped. "My friend stood me up."

"I'm sorry." Killian tried.

"I just don't see what he sees in her." She said regretfully. "But whatever, doesn't matter to me" She insisted, looking back at the menu with a bit of disgust. "Is there anything here that isn't soaked in grease?" She asked.

He forced a smile at the obvious dig. "We have a variety of baked foods, as well as salads." He explained. "They are right there on the menu." He said, pointing at the sections.

She made another face.

"Caesar salad." She responded pointedly, not even bothering to look at the menu. He knows she did it on purpose. He can just feel it in her stare. "No croutons."

He smiles and nods. "Coming right out." He says with a nod and practically bolts away into the kitchen to put her order in, hers and the few other orders he has written down. Killian's been a waiter at a multitude at different places, but there's something about the lass there that was just rubbing him the wrong way, but he couldn't place it.

He'd been yelled at by customers, hit on, and sneered at, but this lass was just odd about the way she was acting towards him, he wished he understood-

"Jones!" Called a voice, making him jump slightly.

"Merida." He greeted. "Do you need something? I was just putting in a few orders for Mac here." He said gesturing to the chef who was looking through his tickets.

"I hear you're doing well today, one of my regulars thought you were great." She compliments, slapping him on the shoulder affectionately. "Keep up the good work."

Killian smiled with praise, returning to Robin's table as he waited on them, getting them refills, and looking around to make sure none of his other customers needed anything.

"Jones serving us, I believe that was always a dream of mine." Robin teased.

"Be careful Mar, it looks like I'm his dream guy." Killian responded without missing a beat.

"I always suspected it." Marian said with a knowing nod. "Ever since I found you two in bed together after your birthday."

Mar giggled as Robin sputtered a retort, face pink. "We were drunk!"

Killian nodded. "Can I get you anything else?" he asked, returning to business.

"I don't know, Robin, can Killian do anything for you?" She said with her best attempt at copying his signature eyebrow waggle.

Robin sighed in annoyance. "No, just the check." He responded. He dropped it on the table.

"Remember to leave a big tip." He said.

They just smiled waving at him as he went back up to the kitchen to pick up a few of the ready meals, including one Cesar Salad. He braced himself for it, placing it in front of her.

She looked at it with a frown.

"There's dressing on it." She noted.

"Aye, is that a problem?" He asked, of course she was going to say it was a problem, he'd have to bring it back, as if he'd been wrong and he forgot to tell the cook no dressing, no, she'd forgotten to tell him, but of course he couldn't say-

"No problem." She said swiftly, looking down and stabbing a piece of lettuce with her fork while maintaining eye contact with him.

He smiled. "Let me know if you need anything else."

"Will do." She said, still not looking away from him. He'd swear she was _grinning_ through her salad.

But he did, wanting to get away from her and her snarky responses. He spotted Marian staring daggers at the cesar salad girl. "She's bothering you." Marian realized. "Want me to have a word?" She asked.

"Marian…"Robin warned.

"What? Killian has his uncomfortable face." She insisted.

"I do not have an uncomfortable face." He insisted.

"Yeah you do mate." Robin said. "You had it the forst time Marian made a Baloney sandwich." He reminded him.

"I was being polite!" He retorted.

"By staring at it for a half hour." Marian reminded him. "What's with her? She hitting on you?" She asked.

"Just being an arse of a customer." He said quietly. "I'll see you later you two, enjoy your night." He picked up the check, taking it to the register.

"You two Killian, don't be a stranger!" Robin called.

Killian grinned, he looked back at the table with the lass, she was gone, the salad was barely touched, but way more money than appropriate was left behind. It was at least a 20$ tip.

Killian looked down at the money than up at the door.

He did not understand some people…

* * *

Sorry for the delay, my computer deleted this chapter, next chapter and half of last chapter for absolutely no reason. I've had a pretty stressful week, so hopefully posting this will make me feel more productive.

Finally got some people in Killian's life besides Belle and Liam, I want them both to have lives outside of their friendship, because that's what healthy relationships are all about. I'm going with a little more of a spunky Marian, hopefully she's coming off well.

I wanted to have chapters already written here as my life is about to get 10x more complicated, but that obviously didn't happen, hopefully the next chapter will write itself...

~Luna


	9. A Little Too Much Information

A Little Too Much Information

Belle was really irritated; she had a long talk to her mom about how irritated she was with Gaston. Her mom reminded her about how important it was to communicate with him.

So Belle called him over with a vague and ominous "We need to talk."

As per usual, Gaston wanted to talk about it right then on the phone, but Belle refused. It was definitely an 'in person' conversation.

So he rushed over there to her apartment.

Belle would be lying if she wasn't a little bit happy by how panicked Gaston looked when she opened the door. It showed that he cared about their relationship. That and the fact that he brought her a box of chocolate helped too.

"I'm mad at you." She said when she opened her door, arms crossed.

"I missed you." He replied with a smirk.

"You and you're friend made me late for class." She insisted.

He nodded. "I'm sorry." He took a step forward towards her. It was always so hard to stay mad at him…Especially since he'd started kissing her, she could hear the box of chocolate clatter to the floor, feeling his arms on her, her face, her back, her hips.

"You didn't even ask if she could tag along. It was pretty rude of you." She added between kissing him, she'd had a speech prepared for him, but it was getting harder to remember.

"I'm sorry." He mumbled into her neck.

What was she mad about again anyway? At this moment, Belle wasn't sure at all.

"Bedroom?" He sighed against her neck, trailing lower to her collar. It felt like heaven.

"This way." She said pointing loosely towards her room, in all honesty, she didn't really care enough to be more precise. He picked her up just like that. She loved it when he did that. She loved it more when he placed her on her bed.

"I missed you." He repeated.

"I missed you too." She responded this time.

Needless to say, they reminded each other _exactly_ how much they missed each other, several times. It was great. Belle knew it was a good idea to have him come over.

Belle must have dozed off at some point, because she woke up to Gaston sliding out of her bed in his boxers. She smirked, closing her eyes again, snuggling into the covers some more.

Gaston was probably getting some water or a snack; she hoped he'd bring back the box of chocolates they'd forgotten.

That's when she heard it, a shout and crash.

Belle bolted up from the bed, tugging on Gaston's shirt and following him out of the room.

"Gaston?!" She exclaimed suddenly. He was standing opposite Killian, and both of them were looking at each other rather angrily.

"Bloody hell!" That was very much Killian. "What'd you hit me for?" He demanded

"For breaking into my girlfriend's place!" replied Gaston. "I'm calling the cops!"

 _Oh no._ Belle thought in horror. She'd been so wrapped up in Gaston that she forgot to tell her boyfriend about Killian's presence here. He was not going to like it under the _best_ of circumstances.

"With what phone?" Killian snapped back. "Why the hell are you practically naked?"

"Bloody hell! I live here too!" He snapped, clutching his jaw and jangling his keys in his hand in taunting.

 _These were not the best circumstances._ Belle thought. She couldn't imagine a worse circumstance.

"Killian! I thought you'd be back later?" Belle asked, getting in between the two feuding guys.

"Killian? You know this guy?" Gaston exclaimed.

"It is later!" He snapped. "I was getting some water after my shift and getting to bed." He said pointing at Gaston "Then this wacko hit me and made me drop my favorite glass!" Killian said glaring at Gaston and jesturing to the dropped glass and spilt water on the floor.

"Belle?" Gaston repeated. "Belle, does this Irish prick live here with you?!" He gasped.

"Oh so this is the Gassy fellow!" Killian said, sarcasm heavy.

"Gassy?" Gaston exclaimed in outrage. "Belle, tell me this isn't true that _my_ girlfriend isn't living with another guy."

She pointed a glare at Killian. "Would you please not make it any harder for me?" She asked in a strained voice. He let out a sigh, rubbing his head slightly.

"I've worked an 8 hour shift dealing with the worst society has to offer: College students." He explained. "I apologize if I was making things difficult for you two." Belle nodded.

"You still haven't answered my question." Gaston said sharply. "You are not living with this baffoon are you? He's just someone's boyfriend."

Belle crossed her arms. "He's single as far as I know." She responded. "And yes, I'm living with him, it was due to unavoidable circumstance."

"Belle?" Killian asked quietly.

"And you didn't think to mention this before?" Gaston demanded.

"I meant to tell you but-" She started, feeling guilty for lying to him, even though she'd never meant to lie, she'd just forgotten. It wasn't like he'd asked about her new roommate anyway. "It was a bit of a mix up, but neither of us can do anything about it."

Gaston rolled his eyes. "I'm sure _he's_ trying _so_ hard to get out of rooming with you." He said sarcastically.

"What's that supposed to mean?" Belle snapped back.

"Belle?" Killian said again, this time louder.

Gaston looked pissed, like he was about to hit someone, most likely Killian. "Gaston calm down." She tried. "It's not his fault either, we just lucked out."

"Lucked out?" He demanded. "How is this lucking out?"

Belle bit her lip at her word choice. "Killian's cool, it's ok, let's just go back to bed." She insisted. "Did you forget that you're in just your boxers?" She said in a low voice.

"Belle?" He said even louder.

Gaston turned to glare at Killian in anger. "Will you mind your own business?" He snapped.

"You're in my kitchen." Killian reminded him. "And I just thought the lass should know her button fell open." He said gesturing to Belle and her now open top.

Belle shrieked, pulling the shirt closed as much as she could, her cheeks heated up in embarrassment. She could see Killian's were too as he avoided eye contact.

"Sorry lass, bad form not to tell you. Have a nice night." He said quickly escaping into his room.

"The nerve of that guy." Gaston muttered. "I think we have some things to talk about." He said in warning. She could tell this was Gaston's angry voice.

"I couldn't agree more." She said, bolting for her room to put on some more clothes. She was thinking a turtleneck. Yes, a turtleneck would suit her nicely right now.

* * *

Ok, finally rewrote this chapter! It took awhile, not as happy with it as I was with the original, but eh.

Thank you for your reviews. I hope this one is well received, it was one of my original ideas for this fic before it sort of exploded a bit.

I love the speculation and the love Marian is getting. She and Robin are going to be pretty active.

I've also gotten some theories about Cesar Salad Girl, you'll find out in later chapters who she is. But I will say who she's not: she isn't Emma. When I introduce Emma, there won't be a doubt in anyone's mind about her. I have a very specific plan for our girl. Right now I'm still world building and relationship exploring between Belle and Killian.

Don't forget to review!

~Luna


	10. Awkward Conversations

Awkward Conversations

After the mess of a meeting last night, Killian knew that the next morning was going to be awkward to say the least.

But Killian was determined to make it as easy for Belle as possible. Killian was sitting with a piece of toast and his phone, skimming through his email when the brunette walked in.

She came out properly dressed in a nice sundress, and went to make herself some breakfast with a firm expression on her face. No, not firm, determined, she looked determined.

"Good morning Belle." He greeted casually, hoping to get her to lighten up. He tried to avoid looking at her directly, or referencing anything about last night. He knew it was best to just let things happen.

"Morning." She replied.

Just as he expected, the morning was going to be awkward.

"Did he stay over?" He asked, trying to address the elephant in the room.

"No." Belle replied in an emotionless voice.

"Oh." Killian replied surprised. He'd thought they'd have spent all night talking about things.

He watched Belle prepare herself some tea and toast, her honey wheat bread was placed into the toaster and she was boiling some water. Her movements were methodical.

Belle didn't even look at him; it went as far as her purposely not looking at him.

"Hey Killian?" Belle asked suddenly, still not making eye contact.

"Yes Belle?" He replied casually.

"If you had a girlfriend would you tell her you were rooming with me?" Belle said suddenly. "Do you think this is going to be a problem?" She turned around to face him.

He could tell she had been crying.

"Do you think we should try to find a way to get a different room and same sex roommates?" She asked anxiously. He hadn't known her long, but she seemed troubled.

"If I had a girlfriend, yes." He replied. "I'd tell her." He replied honestly. "But no, I don't think this would be a problem, it shouldn't be." He insisted. "You and I barely know each other, and even if we did know each other, if we were the best of friends, any girlfriend I have should be secure enough to trust me to share a room with a female." He said, rising to offer her a tissue.

She thanked him with a smile, dabbing her eyes lightly.

"He was pretty pissed wasn't he?" Killian asked.

"Yeah." She replied. "He's the jealous type." She whispered. "Always has been, but it's never bothered me before, I thought it was kind of sweet." She admitted. "Ruby says that it's a red flag."

Ruby, her friend, Killian assumed that she'd been on the phone with her friend about all of this. Belle was watching him, almost as if she was waiting for him to say something.

"Are you asking my opinion?" He asked. "I barely know you or him." He reasoned.

"You're a guy." Belle countered. "I'm not friends with many of those." She admitted. "And you seem to get me pretty well without knowing me." He was just a perceptive person.

"Honestly?" He asked. Belle rolled her eyes.

"No Killian lie to me."

"If he's the one for you, then let him know about this." He said gesturing to her crying eyes. "Tell him you're having these types of feelings, that his jealousy is a concern for you." He insisted. "Maybe invite him over, I can invite some of my friends over and we can sort of clear the air about everything." He suggested. Killian knew that Marian would be dying to know Belle when he told them about their situation.

Belle looked down thinking, so Killian continued. "But if he wants you to make things difficult, if he's making you feel bad about something a silly as this, than I think it is a red flag." He said. "But I don't know the guy, so I don't know how he treats you, take my opinion with a grain of salt."

Belle still didn't speak. "And most importantly lass," She looked up at him, more tears were building. "Don't let him make you cry Belle." He insisted. "Gassy's not worth it."

That got a laugh from her. It was small, but it was a laugh. Killian took it as a win. "You seem pretty knowledgeable about relationships." She said. "Have you ever had one?" She asked. Killian shook his head.

"Not a one, but I've watched my brother screw up enough to learn a thing or two." He explained with a chuckle. "Trust me, if it's anything my brother excels at its certainly not talking to the fairer sex."

She looked surprised. "What?" He asked.

"I'm just surprised you've never been in a relationship." She admitted. "You're so-" she cut off blushing. Killian chuckled.

"I get that a lot, lass, I've had dates, had relationships, but nothing serious, nothing important enough to even mention." He explained. "I tend to isolate myself pretty easily, get lost in my own head; it takes some getting used to for most."

Liam called it brooding, no one besides Liam ever bothered pulling him out of those fazes he's had. He always thought that when he meets _the one,_ he would know it in an instant, he'd just feel it.

"I bet she's out there somewhere." Belle insisted. "But I think having that group meet up thing would be nice, maybe give Gaston a chance to see you're a decent guy and I'd get to meet all of your friends. _"_ She said with a smirk. "You already know my best friend."

He nodded. "We'll start comparing dates as soon as possible." He promised.

Belle looked down at her food eating it slowly.

"Belle, now that we've cleared the air a bit, I think we might need to add to our ground rules." He announced. She looked up at him skeptically. The ground rules were mostly the 'we're not going to get emotionally involved with each other and make this all the more awkward' rules.

Killian wasn't going to bring it up, but after the depressing conversation, Belle deserved a bit of laughter.

"When you're going to have sex in the apartment, _please_ try to be quiet." He insisted. "I heard you two loud before Gassy spotted me." He insisted. "Especially at night, when I get home from a long and tiring shift the last thing I need to know is to hear _that_."

Belle blushed immediately. "It'd been a long time since we saw each other." She whispered in an attempt to explain.

Killian rolled his eyes. "I'm sure you both enjoyed making up for lost time." He teased, making her blush deeper.

"Another ground rule: No discussing each other's sex life." She said. "What happens in our apartment; stays in our apartment."

Killian nodded in agreement. "Only if you're quiet lass, otherwise I hold the right to tease you in the morning." He countered.

"Fine. Just the mornings, when Gaston goes." She thought for a moment. "And I get the same allowances when you bring a girl over."

He smirked, "When?" He asked. "I don't plan on bringing anyone over-"

Belle rolled her eyes. "I'm in a relationship, but it doesn't mean I don't have eyes, Killian, eventually you'll find someone worthy of your time. Trust me."

Killian chuckled. He'd believe it when he sees it.

* * *

Sorrry for the large delay, my life got hectic. It's still hectic but I finally got this ready for publish!

I'm glad people liked that last chapter. I'm trying to portray some real likely circumstances in this type of environment. I also put in a few of my opinions in what makes a stable or unstable relationships. So keep that in mind when things happen that are a little odd, like Belle forgiving Gaston so quickly.

Next chapter is hopefully coming out next week.

~Luna


	11. Is He Here Yet?

Is he here yet?

"I think I'm dying." Killian moaned from the sofa. She looked up from her laptop on the opposite chair, raising a brow. It was the first weekend after classes had started and they were both camped out in the living room doing some studying. Belle had a book to read for a discussion and from what she could tell from the scattered papers everywhere, her roommate was doing math.

Or at least he _was_ at one point. Apparently now he's dying.

"This is going to be the death of me." He complained louder. "You won't have to worry about being judged about living with me because I'll soon be dead." He assured her with a nod.

It had been days since Gaston had met Killian and while things seemed to be getting better with her and Gaston, she'd insisted on not changing the current living conditions until the lease was up at the end of the year. Gaston was acepting it, but not happily. Belle figured it was easiest to just not bring him up again.

But while living with Killian was no longer a problem with Gaston, she was now learning bits about the ins and outs of living with the most over dramatic person she's ever met. And that was saying something when Ruby thought wearing the same dress as a girl she hated constituted a 911 call.

Belle debated humoring him or ignoring him.

Belle tried option two.

"But then you'll have to explain my rotting corpse, I might start to smell." He added. "I hear fabreeze is a good way to get rid of rotting smell." Killian stopped to think about it. "But I don't know how you'll get the stain out, does decomposition leave a stain?"

Belle went for option one, just to see what was making her roommate so melodramatic and to get him to stop describing the process of which he'll decompse so she can finish reading her book.

"What's wrong Killian?" She said sweetly, making it blatantly obvious how much she cared at this moment (which was not at all).

"Don't mock me on my death bed lass." He sighed. "But if you must know…"

"Actually no. Change my mind." She said quickly, catching that glint in his eye. It was going to be stupid, like really stupid. She could tell. She was developing a keen sense of when Killian was about to be stupid.

(Aka, all the time)

"I'm starving and my food is torturing me." He explained, showing her his phone screen. She squinted to read it.

 _'Your order is being processed!'_ was written in big multicolored letter with an animated smiley face looking as if it enjoyed the suffering of starving college kids. She knew this as a fact from all the times she and Ruby waited around for pizza; or Chinese they used to order last semester.

"I understand completely." She said in mock seriousness. "What can I do to make your passing easier?" She asked.

"I have this essay that needs review-"

"No."

"Tea? Would you make me a cup of tea? That Strawberry one?" He pleaded.

"How do you know I have a strawberry tea?" She asked. She'd yet to make it.

He averted his gaze. "Do you? That was just a guess." He corrected. Belle rolled her eyes. Apparently Tea theft was going to be a thing with them.

"Fine." She got up and started her water boiling, which would take about 10 minutes. It was not worth starting a thing.

"It moved! The bar moved!" He exclaimed excitedly. "My order is now being prepared!"

Belle rolled her eyes. "I'm sure you two will be very happy together." She said with a chuckle. "What did you order?"

"Pizza." He declared proudly, "Extra cheese, with some bacon on it." He said proudly.

Belle chuckled. "Good choice." She assured him. "Ruby and I always got take out." It was the only food they _always_ agreed on.

"I feel like I haven't eaten in _days_." He moaned.

"I saw you inhale a box of cereal." She reminded him.

"Days!"

"Like 2 hours ago." Killian rolled his eyes. "Tea's ready." She supplied, watching as he rose from his seat on the couch to get his mug.

He sipped it slowly. Belle turned back to her book….

"It's being inspected? What does that bloody mean?" He asked.

Belle rolls her eyes. "Probably to make sure your order is right?" She guessed. He groaned "Calm down, it'll be here eventually." She reasoned. She was seriously not getting enough work done right now. She should probably go back to her room. Killian probably wouldn't bother her there.

But while Killian's grumbling was distracting, it was also pretty entertaining.

"What are you reading?" He asked.

"Public speaking textbook." She grumbled. "I hate it, it's so boring." Killian chuckled. "It's not funny!"

"It's pretty funny." He reasoned. "Take a break, you've been at it for hours." He insisted. Which was true, she's been studying since she woke up, about 9 since it was a weekend, and it was nearly lunch time. "Split a pizza with me." He urged.

"Really?" She asked in surprise.

"Of course." He assured her. "Split the cost 50/50?" Belle nodded, suddenly feeling _starving._

She joined him on the couch, book abandoned to wait for the pizza.

 _Order being quality checked!_

"We're going to die before it gets here aren't we?" She asked him with a neutral face.

"Without a doubt."

Fortunately they were wrong, they hadn't keeled over out of hunger when they got a knock at the door. Belle would very much like to say that they didn't race over to the door like kids waiting for Santa. Yes, she'd love to say that.

(But it would totally be a lie.)

"How much do I owe you?" Killian asked pulling out his wallet for the delivery guy. The man responded but Belle was completely consumed by the smell of pizza. It was delightful.

"Oh, Hey Belle." The pizza guy said, getting her attention. She snapped to look at the blonde haired pizza guy.

"Oh Victor, you still work here?" She asked with a nervous smile. The guy nodded.

"So Gaston was telling the truth when he said you were shaking up with a brit." He said with a smirk in Killian's direction. She frowned at that. She had a rebuttal on the tip of her tongue.

"Woah mate." Killian stated. "Mind your manners when talking to the lady." Killian snapped. "There is no shaking up going on here."

"Killian-" She tried, feeling Killian getting all protective of her honor or something.

"So you tell ol'Gassy not to spread rumors." He said.

Victor gave her a glance, not even phased by the look on Killian's face or his tone.

"Looks like you got a keeper there Belle." He said with a wink. "You tell Red I'll call her K?" Belle nodded watching him leave. She set the pizza on the counter, she watched Killian huff as he entered and went to grab them plates.

"You know I can take care of myself right?" She asked. "You don't need to defend me."

Killian shrugged. "I know lass." He replied. "But I'm a gentleman, it's how I was raised." He admitted. Belle sighed.

"Whatever." She mumbled, because there could be worse things than having a roommate that wanted to 'defend her honor'

 _Seriously, what was with him? It's like he's a midevil pirate or something…_

"Who was that anyway?" Killian asked, lifting a piece of the cheesy pizza and dropping the tip into his mouth. He had cheese hanging out as he munched.

"Victor Whale, Gaston's roommate." She explained. "He works at the local pizza place, we ordered from them a lot. Ruby and him have a sort of thing going on." She admitted, remembering to text Ruby."

 _Guess who delivered us pizzas?_

 **Us? Seems like you and Blue eyes are getting along ;)**

Belle rolled her eyes.

 **Vic says he's going to call you later.**

Ruby didn't reply. She turned back to Killian.

"Sort of thing?"

"It's complicated." She replied, looking at her phone for confirmation.

 **Sureee he will, and even if he was, not like I'd pick up. Like really does he think i'm waiting by the phone?**

"Ah."

 **Brb, he's calling.**

They ate in comfortable silence, if by comfortable, it meant that they were racing for that oddly large piece at the opposite side of the box.

By living with him,Belle was learning quite a few things about Killian Jones.

For one thing he was a gentleman in all things...except when it came to pizza.

"Mine!" He shouted, grabbing at the last piece seconds before Belle could.

"No fair! You had more than me!"

"Finders keepers lass, and your half was larger than mine." He explained taking a victorious bite out of the last slice. She glared at it, silently hoping it'd slip and fall out of his grip.

 _You win this time pirate. Next one is mine._

* * *

 **Well my once a week story is turning into a once a month thing. Oh well, I guess that's life right?**

 **I was hoping to go a little more funny and less plot for this update. I hope it came out ok.**


	12. Fight Then Flight

Fight then Flight

His apartment is the same as always, covered in books and clothes thrown about, energy shake supplies tucked in a corner. She smiles as she enters happy to have some alone time with her boyfriend after all the tense stuff going on between them.

When he'd called her about hanging out to watch a movie at his place, Belle had been pleasantly surprised. She was thrilled by his in the moment, wanting to see her. She'd canceled her plans with Ruby and put on her favorite pale green skirt and blouse, did her hair a bit, just a few loose curls and make up, she touched up her make up. Belle didn't like a lot of makeup, but after everything, she decided to put in a bit of extra effort to see her boyfriend.

This was their chance of patching things up, and Belle was fully intending to make use of it.

"Sorry, haven't had time to clean up." He admitted sheepishly standing beside her. Belle just grins, _loving_ that grin only she gets to see. Gaston was always this rough and tough guy, having to appear strong and macho to the world, she knew he was really just a bundle of nervous energy.

"No biggie." She giggles, sitting on the bed. "I'm just glad we get to spend some time together like normal." She liked them being normal, normal was study dates that turned into sleep overs, it meant was too much pasta and not being able to go a weekend without seeing each other. It meant Netflix binges and cheering each other up over their fathers' being impossible to please.

She moved over to further sit on the bed with a smirk on her face, wanting him to join her there. Gaston matched her smirk with one of his own, tension between them fading with every step he took towards her. He practically stalked towards her, obviously excited to do what they normally did around this time.

He kissed her, practically melting into her, getting impossibly close. Usually when they started, Belle felt her mind go giddy and it made it hard to think about anything else.

"Wait." She insisted, suddenly remembering something.

Killian and Belle had picked a date to have a meet up with his and her friends, solve his friends' curiosity, and Gaston's worry. It was full proof. She just had to make sure Gaston was onboard.

"We need to talk first." Belle couldn't get distracted until she made sure he was onboard.

"Ok." Gaston agreed, his hand resting on her bare knee, rubbing soothing circles into her smooth skin.

"Killian and I want to host like a friend meet up thing." She said nervously. It wasn't going to be a party, not enough people for that, just like a hangout, drinks food, all the good stuff. "And I want you to be there." She insisted.

Belle was going to make cheeseburgers, Killian said he could get Marian to bring some of her homemade Rocky road ice cream; Gaston could probably help get the drinks. It was a good plan.

That is, until Belle felt Gaston retract his hand. "What?" he asked. "You're having a party?" He asked. Belle nodded.

"We thought it would put you and all our friends at ease all at once." She insisted, even though from what Killian told her, none of his friends were concerned, just curious, but Belle didn't need to tell him that. "Get rid of that awkward living in a Co-ed apartment thing." She further explained. "Victor can come too if he wants." Belle quickly added. "But he can't get sick anywhere, or get alcohol poisoning _again."_

Gaston shook his head stubbornly. "Belle I don't' think so." Gaston stated, eyes hardening in that stubborn way they tend to do.

"Fine. Vicotr can die on our floor if he wants, he just has to clean it up."

"Belle." Gaston insisted. "I'm not coming to some party you're hosting with some other guy." He said shortly. "I don't even like the idea of you going to this thing."

Belle sat up straighter, looking and feeling shocked by his reaction.

"Some other guy? He's my roommate!" She exclaimed. "We've been over this!" She insisted. He said he was fine with it, he said he understood that she couldn't and wouldn't try to get out of this lease.

"And I still don't like it, and you're not making it any better with hosting a party? What next? You two get a dog together? Come on Belle! I'm your boyfriend, you're not supposed to host parties with other guys!" He snapped.

"I'm living with him, he's my friend, and I wanted you to meet him the right way, I wanted you to like him and see that there's nothing going on and there never will be!" She fumed. "Why won't you just trust me?"

He groaned in annoyance. "Belle this whole thing _humiliated me."_ He insisted. "I made a total fool of myself and just want to forget the whole thing, and forget about that foreign prick invading your life-"

Belle cut him off. "He didn't _invade my home."_ She snapped. "And what, you're just never going to come over?" She asked in surprise.

"I mean we do have my place-"

Belle shook her head.

"And what, you call me over like some cheap booty call?" She snapped back. "I'm your girlfriend for over two years; you need to be able to trust me like I trust you."

Gaston sighed, looking very finished with this conversation.

"Belle, can we do this later? I really don't have time for this." He said in a sigh. "I'll think about it alright?" There he went, dismissing her again, looking back at her like he expected them to just continue their activities as if they hadn't just fought.

Well Gaston was getting another thing coming if he thought that was going to fly.

"Fine. Then I'll go." She responded like it didn't bother her one bit.

"But I thought-" He said with wide eyes.

"You don't have to talk about meeting Killian, my new _friend._ " She insisted. "Then you definitely don't have time for whatever activities you thought we were about to do here." She said pointing to his bed. "And I definitely didn't have time to get your new little friend coffee before a _really important day for me."_ She seethed.

Perhaps Belle should have left that part out, it was petty, really petty, but Belle was annoyed and bitter about it still.

"Really, this again? I said I was sorry." He groaned. "You're the one that promised to drive me when you couldn't. You should have managed your time better for your little writing classes."

Belle was seething by now. "Silly little writing classes?" She exclaimed. He was talking about her entire major. She always knew he didn't think her major mattered much, he always thought his problems were so much worse than anyone else's. It really irritated her sometimes.

"Come on Belle, you know how much more pressure I have than you, so please I don't need this right now." He said with a sigh. "I have to meet up with some friends to study at 1."

Belle rolled her eyes. "Sophia right?" She could just imagine her in her skin tight jeans, flashy make up, batting her eyes at Gaston, fawning about how cool and smart he is and giggling. Girls like that always had an annoying giggle.

"Victor actually." He snapped right back. "Never took you for the jealous type."

"Well, I always knew you were the jealous type." She replied. "But fine, I'm going. Party's tomorrow at 8. If you don't show up, don't bother calling me again."

Gaston's jaw dropped.

"Belle-"

She turned and left the room, slamming the bedroom door in her wake. She didn't stop immedietly, no she wanted to make her point that Gaston had to do this for her, that this was important to her. She waited in the elevator feeling her nerves rise at what she had just done.

Belle might have thrown away a 2 year relationship for nothing. She might have lost 'the one' over nothing.

"Why did you convince me to stand my ground Ruby?" She said aloud, pacing in the small space.

Suddenly the elevator door opened.

Standing there was the last person Belle wanted to see right now.

"Oh, Belle!" The girl said with a smirk. "I was just thinking about you." Belle did her best to seem composed.

"Sophia." She said with the fakest smile she could. "What are the odds?"

Belle really didn't need this right now. Like she seriously, did not want to deal with _her_ , with Sophia the snobby friend of Gaston.

Belle finally got a good look at her, all dark hair and curls and curves that Belle could only dream of having.

"Did you just see _Gaston_?" Belle hated how she said his name. "We're all going up to study." She informed her. "Probably an all-nighter."

Belle couldn't help but let her smile dip ever so slightly. She couldn't help it. Sophia was taunting her, rubbing her jealousy in her face. Every instinct was telling Belle to go up there with her, plant one right on Gaston's idiotic face and claim her from this-this-this-

Belle really wished she knew what to say, what to do to put her in her place, but Belle was drawing a blank.

"Are you getting off?" She asked with wide eyed innocence. "Since you are leaving."

She held her gaze.

"Happily." And Belle strolled right out fo there, unable to prevent from seething in anger at the whole situation. She needed something right now. She needed to make a bad decision. She pulled out her phone.

 _Ruby, do you still have that bottle of vodka in your freezer?_

 **I'm on my way.**

* * *

 **April Chapter! Next one is half written so maybe we'll get 2 next month?**

 **Plot is building. Next chapter is Killian focused with maybe a side of Belle.**

 **~Luna**


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